Damn, man
Big hashtaggy thing this morning: Gary Johnson muffing question about Aleppo.

I understand Johnson only too well. I'm the same basic type: introvert, detached observer, not motivated by power.

Difference: I learned a long time ago that this type CANNOT BE A LEADER. Johnson hasn't figured it out yet.

Powerful people could use more of our type as advisors, but we CAN'T BE THE FRONT MAN.

He showed the problem clearly this morning. Hit with a question "What would you do about Aleppo?"... Johnson was clearly off in a private detached universe, musing about train tracks or snapdragons.

There's a clear and simple LP answer to the question, which in this particular case is the same as the Populist answer. (Pop and LP are opposite on economic and cultural issues, but parallel on war.)

"The only thing we can do now is GET THE FUCK OUT and stop interfering with Putin's effort to end the war. We shouldn't have started the war. Starting wars is evil and leads to more war."

= = = = =

Later thought: The above simple answer should have been instantly available. I could have given it, even though I'm the same type as Johnson. I have that answer on the tip of my tongue at all times.

A sharper debater could have gone beyond the simple. Something like this: "You're asking about DETAILS. You always insist on DETAILS in these questions because you can't imagine genuine differences of viewpoint. Everyone who ran for office in your lifetime agreed on 99.9% of these questions, and the agreement was always on the PERFECTLY EVIL side. Should we destroy ALL of the countries except Israel, or should we allow one country other than Israel to survive for 3 seconds before we destroy it? Should we eliminate ALL jobs that ordinary men can do, or can we spare one job in a temporary pilot program? Should we break down ALL of the walls and borders that keep civilization and life running, or can we wait a few days before we finish smashing the last one? Those are the DETAILS that occupy your mind, because you are nine light years beyond insane and fifty trillion parsecs beyond evil. These DETAIL questions are like asking whether Jeffrey Dahmer should have used a non-stick skillet or a cast-iron skillet to fry up the body parts of the people he fucked and killed and ate."
  ¶ 6:30 AM